近日，华东师范大学吴健团队报道了明亮压缩真空促进的非线性原子隧穿。该项研究成果发表在2026年5月20日出版的《自然》杂志上。

非线性光学过程通常由多光子相互作用而非单光子响应介导，广泛应用于各类器件和应用中，以实现基于光的一系列功能。强光场可增强非线性效应，但这一策略因可能引发辐射损伤而受到限制。另一种策略依赖于量子光特有的涨落重分布，但在最基本的实验层面，相关演示仍十分有限。

研究组报道了在量子光——明亮压缩真空（BSV）的增强下，孤立原子的非线性隧穿电离实验。隧穿电离是驱动高次谐波产生并构成阿秒科学基础的关键非线性过程。平均脉冲能量为300纳焦的BSV光实现了等效于相干光7.1微焦的有效强度，表明BSV光对非线性效应的量子增强超过20倍。通过匹配角条纹测量得到的光电子动量谱峰值，这一增强得以揭示。此外，研究组还展示了在固定平均脉冲能量下通过调节关联函数来控制BSV光的有效强度，建立了一种基于量子统计而非经典强度标度来定制非线性过程的可靠方法。这些发现有望利用定制量子光源，推动量子控制的强场动力学发展。

附：英文原文

Title: Nonlinear atomic tunnelling boosted by bright squeezed vacuum

Author: Jiang, Zhejun, Pan, Shengzhe, Chen, Jianqi, Zhu, Mingyu, Zhao, Chenhao, Wang, Yiwen, Zhang, Ru, Lu, Jianshi, Han, Lulu, Xiong, Suwen, Wu, Dian, Li, Wenxue, Jiang, Shicheng, Ni, Hongcheng, Wu, Jian

Issue&Volume: 2026-05-20

Abstract: Nonlinear optical processes, mediated by multiphoton interactions rather than single-photon response, are routinely exploited to enable a range of light-based functionalities in devices and applications. Nonlinear effects are enhanced by higher-intensity fields, which is a limiting strategy owing to potential radiation damage. An alternative strategy relies on the fluctuation redistribution typical of quantum light1,2,3,4, but experimental demonstrations at the most fundamental level have been limited. Here we report experimental nonlinear tunnelling ionization of isolated atoms, a pivotal nonlinear process that drives high-harmonic generation and forms the basis of attosecond science, boosted by quantum light—bright squeezed vacuum (BSV). A BSV light with an average pulse energy of 300nJ achieves an effective intensity equivalent to that of a coherent light with 7.1μJ, demonstrating a more than 20-fold quantum boost in the nonlinear effect from BSV light. This boost is revealed by matching the peaks of the photoelectron momentum spectra produced by the BSV and coherent light as measured by angular streaking. Furthermore, we demonstrate control of the effective intensity of the BSV by tuning the correlation function at fixed average pulse energy, establishing a robust method to tailor nonlinear processes by quantum statistics rather than classical intensity scaling. These findings may facilitate the development of quantum-controlled strong-field dynamics using tailored quantum light sources.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10485-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10485-9